More than 800 athletes from 45 countries will vie for medals across 42 disciplines in the athletics event.
Sudarsan Pattnaik's sand art at Bhubaneswar Airport (Photo: Twitter)
The Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, recently revamped and inaugurated by Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, is all set to host the five-day athletics extravaganza – 22nd Asian Athletics Championships starting Wednesday.
More than 800 athletes from 45 countries will vie for medals across 42 disciplines in the athletics event. The event will help athletes qualify for the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London. Winners will get a direct entry into the World Championships. India will be represented by 95 athletes.
Ahead of the championships that will start with the men’s 100m sprint at 8:30a.m. on Thursday, the stadium will host a grand opening ceremony on Wednesday.
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The opening ceremony will have more than 500 artistes showcasing Odisha’s heritage, culture and the evolution of ‘The Temple City’. The cultural evening will include a series of performances on the state’s symbol ‘sun’ and the Kalinga war.
Singer and music composer Shankar Mahadevan is also expected to perform at the event with his band.
The mascot for the Asian Athletics Championships is Olly Turtle, representing the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles.
The turtles swim to the state’s Rushikulya and Gahirmatha beaches for their annual nesting.
Odisha is the third state after New Delhi (1989) and Pune (2013) to host the Asian Athletics Championships.
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